Elisabet's Journey
by grayfoxzero
Summary: An access port seal malfunctioned. GAIA Prime's port seals were designed to close with a seam of less than 2 millimeters, but one closed with a 10 millimeter gap. Enough for an energy signature to bleed through for the swarm to detect, discover and destroy the facility. All is lost, unless the hatch servos were manually re-engaged... from the outside.
1. Chapter 1

Elisabet Sobeck studied the sealed access port one last time, satisfied that GAIA Prime will remain undiscovered by the robotic swarm. Occasionally, her armoured environmental suit would update the HUD, a blinking reminder of its remaining capacity to sustain life. "I better get going," she said, to no one in particular, as communications had been purposely disabled from her end. She was dead-set determined not to risk anything that might jeopardise the location of the only facility that will give birth to hope. Even if it meant ostracising herself from the last vestiges of human contact.

Turning away from the GAIA Prime facility, Elisabet started making her way down, towards west. Even though it was still morning, air quality has badly deteriorated over the last few weeks, causing drastic visual decline. She needed to take advantage of whatever available daylight to get down from the mountain as quickly as she could.

Ecology devastation was evident around her during her descent; lifeless trees, withering shrubs, and carcasses of small animals choked to death by the toxic air. The reality of Earth's precarious future slowly hit home. Will we succeed in giving life a second chance? How many tries will it take to stabilise Earth's ecology? What would be the scale of the aftermath when engaging the HADES sub-function each time to provide a clean slate for GAIA to terraform again? If the ecology becomes sufficiently sustainable to introduce humans into it, would HADES still be retained as part of GAIA? She couldn't explain why her head started flooding with thoughts about HADES. She began to feel uneasy. "It's a sub-function, Elisabet," she consoled herself. "Trust GAIA to know what to do with HADES when it is not needed indefinitely."

She was interrupted from her reverie when her Focus registered an anomaly a few yards away. The hazy air was frustrating her efforts to identify it. Being extra alert and cautious, Elisabet quietly slinked off the visible path, crouching among boulders and anything that can provide her with cover as she approached the oddity. Only when she was within a few feet of it did she breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the harsh environment, a sprightly patch of small camas flowers was blooming; its bright bluish petals raised on clustered stalks projected a stark contrast to the bleak surroundings.

Kneeling down, she gingerly touched one. Though slightly dismal that she couldn't feel its soft texture through her gloves, she marvelled at the plant's tenacity to thrive in such given conditions. Her thoughts temporarily drifted to one particular moment when GAIA queried if she had any favourite flowers. "Camas," Elisabet replied, without skipping a beat. Returning to the present, she found reassurance in the significance of it all.

"I'm resting my hope on you, GAIA," she whispered, as she stood up and continued her trek, homeward bound. "All of humanity is." 


	2. Chapter 2

GAIA Prime - Utah Sobeck Ranch - Carson City, Nevada

Before the desolation by the inevitable Faro Plague, it would have taken just under 12 hours to arrive at Carson City from Utah by car or motorbike. Now, these options just simply meant exponentially increasing the likelihood of catching the swarm's unwanted attention. Coupled by the fact there would be machine remnants and other vehicles stranded over the motorway, Elisabet concluded that travelling on foot towards her Sobeck Ranch home would be the safest way. "Practical in this given situation," she said to herself. "But definitely not ideal."

Her physical fitness level was a blessing from her active lifestyle since her early twenties. The only hindrance to her nimbleness was her environmental suit, though the delay of her journey home was also contributed by other factors. En route, Elisabet made quick stops to rest and forage for anything edible, by dodging into buildings and houses. This also presented the opportunity to conserve the usage of her suit's remaining life support capacity in places where indoor air quality was still breathable.

Not all places were devoid of life yet, as she soon discovered. A handful of humans had managed to evade the swarm as far as Hinckley, her current pit stop. She had run-ins with the customary obnoxious survivors depicted in disaster movies, as well as humble and generous ones whom shared their limited rations. Those who survived with the odds stacked against them wrenched her heart. Regardless of their stand and belief, all of them were tied by one foreboding fate: this was just a temporary respite. If they were not consumed by the machines, they would still die of starvation and thirst. It was between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Elisabet would give anything to save each and every survivor. Unspeakable sorrow engulfed her entire being, knowing that she was standing among these people and yet could only offer kindness, solace, and companionship. It also pained her to no end that Project Zero Dawn was the only way to give life a fighting chance to once again thrive on Earth. There was no hope of avoiding the extermination of the present biomass, but she could not bring herself to break this to them. She can only promise that things will "turn around for the better, sooner or later".

As the fifth day dawned since her departure from GAIA Prime, Elisabet had ensured she was sufficiently ready to tackle the challenges that may be present for remainder of the way home. A vast arid desert punctuated with small mountain ranges and rugged open terrain now lay before her and her destination. Her grip tightened on the knapsack given to her, filled with supplies to last the journey. She was determined to reach home no matter what it took. 


End file.
